A Demon Hunter at Beacon
by KidKrow
Summary: Nero leaves his world for another, one that needs him more even than his last. There he meets loves, enemies, and discovers who he truly is.
1. Chapter 1

Nero took a deep breath as he walked through the modified hell gate, leaving his world behind for forever, and stepping into a new one. Rather falling into a new one, the gate spat him out into the sky over what seemed to be a forest. Instead of freaking out Nero kept his cool and took control of his falling form. His devil bringer was in a sling again, just in case whoever he encountered didn't take kindly to a teenager with a demonic arm. Nero fell faster and faster toward the ground, taking it in. He narrowed his eyes as he noticed a group of individuals fighting an avian creature that looked like a demon, but from what he had read in Argus' notes there were no demonic creatures in this world, well just him and only ever him. The hellgate he had created was a one time thing that couldn't be replicated, a one time deal, which is exactly what Nero wanted. Throwing caution to the wind Nero threw himself into an air hike, then ripped his arm from its sling before diving down at the bird-thing like a bullet, rearing his clawed fist back as his coat flapped in the wind behind him. A flash of brilliant blue light came from his arm just as he prepared his buster, the massive spectral arm appearing alongside Nero

Down on the ground four girls watched as a massive red portal opened in the sky as they engaged the giant nevermore that had been terrorising the local settlements. There was no cliff to use this time so Ruby could decapitate the beast through a well synchronized attack from the four of them. Why Ozpin had chosen to send the four of them to take on the massive instead of a team of more experienced hunters was something that Weiss and Blake were confused by. Yang had jumped at the chance of a challenging fight and Ruby just wanted to prove herself a competent leader. This was team RWBY's first mission and their fearless red-hooded leader was determined for it to go smoothly. They hadn't expected it to be easy, but the fight so far had been very onesided.

Every attempt at getting close to the nevermore, be it Weiss' glyphs or Blake's weapon Gambol Shroud was met with a wing to the face or a feather nearly impaling one of the team. The girls weren't sure how much longer they could keep at it, so when the massive portal opened, and a giant blue arm appeared next to the object that had fell from the same portal, they weren't sure whether to be relieved or terrified at the implications of what was occurring.

Just as he was about to land on the creature, Nero brought his buster down into the center of it's back, sending the massive black bird crashing down to the Earth. When the bird hit the ground, with Nero landing on top, he flipped off of the creature's back and drew Red Queen from his back. He rapidly twisted himself in midair, generating force for his final strike, before twisting the handle of his sword, spraying exceed along the blade and making his buzzsaw like attack far more deadly. Team RWBY watched in fascination as someone who had just fell from the sky decapitated the nevermore in one strike with an odd sword that made sounds reminiscent of a motorcycle, the grimm exploding into a cloud of black particles.

Nero sheathed Red Queen and watched as the creature he had slain disappeared, leaving behind something strange, a silver feather. As he approached the feather, ignoring the presence of the four pretty girls he had noticed, his devil bringer started to glow, the light becoming stronger and stronger with each step before engulfing his person as he picked up the feather with his devil bringer, his demonic arm drawing the essence of the feather into itself.

Nero felt a sudden burst of power, his arm flashed black, which he found worrysome as his arm had only ever glowed blue or gold in certain situations, and then turned back to blue as he slipped it into the medical sling around his neck. Nero wasn't going to take any chances with the girls he had just helped out. They seemed like capable fighters and would have brought down the beast eventually, his dropping in just sped up the process, and he was exhausted from the use of his demonic energy to open up the hellgate. He probably would fall in a four on one fight and after all he had gone through to get a fesh start he wasn't going to lose his life in a fight so soon.

Nero turned slowly as his arm dropped to his left thigh, his fingers brushing against Blue Rose's finished wood handle in the firearm's holster. The girls had each assumed an offensive stance as he looked them over, his features stone cold and unreadable.

The white themed girl whose hair was in a ponytail, who was brandishing an ornate rapier in his direction, spoke first. "Who are you and what are you!"

Nero wrapped his hand around Blue Rose's grip underneath his coat before speaking, "Now is that anyway to talk to the guy who just helped you all out? I'm sure you all had it handled but am I wrong to assume that me breaking that thing's back and lopping it's head off helped?"

A girl in a red hood who had the most beautiful eyes that Nero had ever... no he couldn't let his mind wander, no matter how lonely he was. She had a crazy looking scythe that Nero's inner weapons nerd was salivating over and the way she held the implement of pointy death made clear she knew how to use the thing. Her voice surprised Nero, sounding out with innocence that he had never had the luxury of experiencing in anyone except Kyrie, "He's right Weiss, we were in a tight spot there," with that she lowered her weapon and Nero blinked in surprise as the scythe folded in on itself into a compact case the girl strapped to her back.

The white themed girl, who Nero now knew as Weiss, a name he recognized to me white in German, became visibly upset at the hooded girl. "Ruby! He fell from the sky out of an evil looking portal! Then somehow punched a nevermore into the ground and decapitated it with a sword that makes engine sounds!"

A girl who wore an outfit of brown leather and orange and had long yellow hair spoke up next. "Yes Weiss, we know. We were right there next to you remember? Besides, look at him, he's a total hotty!"

Nero felt a little uncomfortable at with the hungry stare the yellow haired girl was giving him but brushed it off, he was used to such behavior after spending so much time with Trish and Dante. He looked to the white haired girl to see her blushing but still holding her ground, her rapier pointed at him.

A girl who was wearing a black bow over the top of hher head that Nero swore he saw twitch spoke up next, "Weiss is right though Yang, We don't know if he's dangerous or not and he's armed. I honestly think we should bring him to Ozpin, I'm sure the headmaster would want to talk to someone that can take down a giant nevermore in two blows."

Nero had had enough discussion, he was tired and his arm was sore from absorbing that feather for some reason. "Listen, there's no need for all the arguing okay? I'll go willingly, I'm tired and getting here took a lot out of me."

His statements were met with blank stares and Nero simply sighed before turning around and walking away from the group of girls. He would find his own way to civilization if he was going to be given the third degree. Before he could even take a step the girl in the hood with the pretty eyes, who Weiss had called Ruby, was in front of him with what looked like rose petals fluttering around her. Nero shrugged it off and looked at the girl expectantly, his hand once again reaching for his trusty side arm.

"Wait! I'm sorry!" The girl was holding her arms out with her palms facing Nero, halting his advance. "We Weren't trying to be rude! We really appreciated the assist and the way your sword just revved up and totally destroyed that nevermore was so cool!"

Nero couldn't help but let a small smile grace his features at the girls exuberance and energy. "It's fine, I can understand you all would be stressed."

Ruby smiled brightly at him and then extended her arm towards him,"I'm Ruby Rose, huntress in training and leader of team RWBY."

Nero looked at her extended arm and then down at his devil bringer in its sling. Nero decided to go with his gut and removed the sling and threw it down to the ground, revealing his red and blue arm. He flexed his fist a few times before returning the gesture. As his fingers reached around her hand something unexpected happened, his arm lit up gold. Nero's eyes widened when this happened and Ruby tilted her head and scrunched up her nose, which Nero found disarmingly adorable.

Nero withdrew his hand aand it returned to its normal blue glow. "It doesn't normally do that. I'm Nero. Just Nero."

"Hi just Nero, I'm Yang Xiao-long. Would you happen to be single?" The yellow haired girl who had just introduced herself was making him uncomfortable with how close she suddenly was, and she didn't seem to be reading that very well.

Weis had had enough at this point, she slammed her foot down onto the forest floor and let out an angry grunt."Are you people blind?! Look at his arm! It's... it's..."

"Demonic? Yeah, I get that a lot." Nero had picked up his sling and put it back on, he should've known better than to show off something like his arm already to people he had just met, especially to ones as uptight as this Weiss girl was.

Blake Belladonna watched the interactions between her teammates and the young man that had just fell from a portal in a the sky. For some reason she felt a kindred spirit in this Nero person, even though she had yet to say a word directly to him. It would make sense though, with an arm like that he was bound to have been ostracized, just like a faunus, like her. She instantly regretted her earlier statement about the man being dangerous, even though he probably was.

"Your arm is part of you Nero, you shouldn't be ashamed of it," Blake said as she walked towards the young man, feeling like a hippocrite as she spoke. "I'm Blake Belladonna, don't mind Weiss. She's just a little close minded."

"I am not close minded!" Weiss retorted indignantly.

"You kind of are snow angel," Yang was jumping on now.

"Don't call me that!" Weiss marched over in front of Nero, next to Ruby, and placed her hands on her hips, and pointed right at Nero. "You fell from a rift in the sky and that thing you call an arm is not your semblance, because they don't manifest physically in that manner, so what are you?"

"I'm not completely human," Nero had removed his sling again, throwing it on the ground once more. He wasn't going to hide himself for the sake of someone like this girl. "I have demon blood in my veins."

Weiss scoffed at his remark, "Demons? There is so such thing as demons, or angels, or any such creatures."

Nero smirked, before shaking his head, it made sense people wouldn't believe in demons seeing as they didn't exist in this dimension, he was the only source of demonic power. "Listen, i just ripped open a portal and..." before he could finish he was down on the ground passed out.

Blake dropped down next to him and checked his pulse while Ruby and Yang dropped to oppossite sides of him. Weiss didn't leave her spot and acted like she wasn't there.

Ruby was worried, not only had Nero passed out but his arm had stopped glowing, it was completely dark. "Blake what happened to him?" For some reason she felt an instant attatchment to the person who had fell from the sky, as though she had been waiting to meet him. Her palm was itchy where they had shook hands and her heart had been beating a little faster since then, she had to fight down a blush when she looked at him straight in the eyes. She never put much thought into boys but Nero made her feel... wierd, and she kind of liked it.

"I don't know, he's still breathing and his pulse is normal." Blake was at a loss at what could be going on, he wasn't running a fever and didn't seem to be sick. It worried her, she thought she had found a kindred spirit for some reason with this boy, she thought he was a boy with how young he looked, he had to be around her age, and now she was going to lose the chance at getting to know him.

"We should check in with Goodwitch, let her know what happened and get Nero to Beacon." Yang wasn't going to let a cute boy slip out of her grasp just because he suddenly fainted. Even though his arm was strange, Yang could tell there was a lot going on with this guy, and for some reason she wanted to figure it all out.

"Why does he matter? Do you not see his arm? He could have some sort of disease or infection!"

"Weiss, he saved us from being Grimm food! We owe it to him to at least make sure he's okay."

"Ruby, you can't be serious!"

Yang and Blake had both wrapped one of Nero's arms around their shoulders and picked him up. Yang spoke up for Ruby,"Ruby's team leader Weiss, what she says goes." Weiss rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, she did not like this one bit.


	2. Chapter 2

Nero awoke slowly, light slowly filtering into his vision, as he stared up at the checkered ceiling. He could hear the beep of a heart monitor, steady, and a glance down at his arm revealed that he had an IV hooked up to him. He looked over at his devil bringer and saw that it was back to its normal blue glow, but now had black feather like crest in the center of the top of his hand that gave off a faint black glow.

Nero sat up, noticing that he was wearing only his jeans underneath the blankets covering him. His back felt sore, particularly around his shoulder blades, but he shrugged it off and blamed it on the hospital bed. He removed the IV, and smirked as the wound healed instantly. Being whatever he was had perks. He looked around the room, not seeing any sign of the rest of his clothes or his weapons, but he noticed someone sleeping in a chair against the wall.

It was one of the girls from before he passed out, the one who had pretty eyes. Ruby, he remembered. She was breathing lightly, and seemed like she was in a complete state of serenity. A glance to window on the opposite side of the room revealed that it was night, late into by the way the, holy shit was the moon shattered? Nero shook off his surprise, he was in another dimension so things would be different, or at least he thought he was, Argus' notes weren't clear on exactly where or what the modified hellgate would take him to but he knew that it was inaccessible from his old home now that the hellgate was used. He got lost in his thoughts until the door to the room opened, revealing another girl.

Blake was surprised to see the person who had rescued her and her team awake and seemingly aware. The doctor had told her, Yang, and Ruby that the teen was so drained of his aura he should be dead. Blake took a second to look at her savior. He was thin, there didn't seem to be much muscle on his frame, but there was no fat as well, but he did seem well toned. He had a gold necklace around his neck in the shape of a four winged angel and a tattoo wrapped around his shoulder of a black cat, which made her blush a little. On his left bicep was a red rose, and on the meeting of his neck and arm was a small golden sun. She wondered how he came about them, and why he chose such images.

"Are you gonna stand there or come in?" Blake was shaken from her stupor and blushed slightly in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I was just looking at your tattoos. They're quite striking."

"Tattoos? I don't have any tattoos."

"I see three on you though Nero, all along your left arm." Nero looked down and looked over his arm, sure enough, there were two he could see and he could make out another in his peripheral vision.

"Where the hell did those come from? I didn't have them when I left Fortuna." Nero was thoroughly confused, Argus's notes made no mention of tattoos occurring from passing through the hellgate, and the forms on his arm didn't look alchemical in nature so they weren't from passing through the gate.

"That's strange, do you think." Blake was cutoff by a loud yawn from Ruby, who had been awakened by the conversation that was taking place.

"Uhhhhh. What's going on? Nero! You're awake! Are you okay? I was, we were really worried when you passed out like that" Nero smiled at the girl's energy, finding comedy in the way she went from barely concious to jumping up and down with questions.

"I'm fine Ruby, my back is just little sore. Blake and I were just talking about how I have tattoos on me now for some reason."

"I think you should go easy on him Ruby, remember what the doctor said? He should be dead." Ruby looked a little downtrodden and nodded in agreement. She had wanted to learn everything she could about the young man who had come from a hole in the sky.

"It's fine really, but what do you mean I should be dead?" Nero was only a little concerned, dying for him had become nigh impossible since unlocking his devil trigger and obtaining Yamato.

"Your aura was completely gone, as though you didn't have any." Blake crossed her arms and tilted her head, her bow giving a subtle twitch.

"Aura?" Nero had a feeling that his lack of it was a big deal, and might lead him to revealing his true nature a little sooner then he thought would be necessary.

"Yeah, aura. You know the manifestation of your soul?" Ruby smiled at the teen for his absent mindedness.

"We don't have that where I'm from." Ruby gave him a look of disbelief and Blake looked like she was deep in thought. "Listen, I understand that you might think I'm crazy but that hole you saw in the sky that I came out of was a portal from another world."

"What? Are you sure your okay Nero?" Ruby was worried now and approached the young man and placed her hand against his forehead, "You don't feel feverish."

"I think he's telling the truth Ruby." Ruby backed away from Nero and gave Blake a funny look. "His lack of knowledge on aura is alarming, as someone with his skill in combat would have to know of and use it in our world. His arm is not like anything anyone has ever seen and any attempts the doctors made at getting a tissue sample just broke their scapels." Nero frowned at that, he didn't appreciate being unknowingly dissected. "According to your examination of his sword it doesn't use dust to propel itself like you thought and instead uses some strange combustible liquid and his gun fires ammunition of a make you've never seen. Plus he possesses unnatural strength and speed for a human, even one using aura. It makes sense that he's not from Remnant."

Ruby thought for a second before nodding her head, "I guess your right Blake. I mean all the evidence is there."

Nero put in his two cents, "I'm surprised you two are actually believing me. I expected I would have to do something drastic to prove myself."

Blake nodded in response, "I doubt that everyone will look at the facts like we have, so you may still have to prove yourself to others."

Nero shrugged before running his arm over his new tattoos, he would be a little upset normally at having permanent marks he didn't choose to recieve on his body, but for some reason having these felt good, like they meant something. "Do either of you know where the rest of my clothes are? I'd like to get out of this hospital, assuming that's where I am."

Ruby piped up with an answer, "Your clothes are underneath the bed, I folded them for you. I have your sword and your gun back at our room. I'll go get them for you." Before Nero could reply Ruby had zipped out of the room, rose petals floating in her wake, leaving Nero alone with Blake.

"Since she was headed to her room I take it we're not in a hospital." Nero stood up from the bed and removed the heart monitor cuff from his arm. He found his belongings and set about putting them on.

"No you're at Beacon academy, the school that Ruby, Yang, Weiss and I all attend. We're huntresses in training." She watched as Nero dressed, the way he did so was methodical, as though he knew every stitch of his clothing by heart.

"I take it you hunt creatures like the one I dropped in on? And the four of you make up some kind of combat unit?"

"Yes, all students are placed in a team of four at the beginning of their training and remain in that same group till graduation."

"So this school, does it have military connections?" Blake nodded in affirmative and was about to explain the way hunter's work in Remnant when she was interrupted by the presence of the school's headmaster himself.

"I'll take it from here Ms. Belladona." Nero took in the new individual who had entered the room. He was dressed in green and black, wore glasses, and carried a steaming mug with him. He possesed an aura of control, one that reminded Nero a little too much of Sanctus for him to be comfortable, and carried himself like a leader.

"Who are you? Cause you better have a reason for interupting our conversation." Nero didn't like authority figures much now, even before the incident on Fortuna he had issues with people trying to tell him what to do, unless they were telling him to tear apart demons.

Ozpin gave Nero a once over, staring for a while at his devil bringer before meeting Nero's eyes. Ozpin could tell the young man in front of him was powerful, that the way his students described his slaying of the nevermore was just the bare minimum of what he could do.

"I'm the headmaster of this school, and we have much to discuss." Nero looked at Blake who was looking at him expectantly.

"Alright, go ahead then."

"I was hoping we could speak in my office, where certain sensitive pieces of information will not be heard."

Before Nero could reply Ruby arrived with Red Queen and Blue Rose its holster in tow. "Here you go Nero! You have to let me look at them some more or at least explain them to me. I've never seen a sword like this before and the firing mechanism for your gun is so cool! Oh, headmaster, I didn't notice you." Ozpin simply smiled at the girl.

"Hello Ms. Rose. I was just about to escort Mr. Nero here to my office so I could explain some things to him, I recommend that you and Ms. Belladonna return to your dorm as it is very late." With that Ozpin turned and left.

Nero smiled as he returned Red Queen to its rightful place on his back and buckled his holster around his leg. He felt naked without his trusty sidearm and his blade on him. "I'll see you guys later I'm sure." Blake nodded and Ruby smiled as he left following Ozpin.

"Blake, is it me or is he just way to cool?"

"I agree Ruby, I agree."

Nero followed Ozpin closely, not wanting to get lost in the sprawl of buildings and complexes that made up Beacon academy. The two walked in tense silence, Nero knowing that the incoming conversation would be a major one. Eventually the pair reached an elevator and rode it up, coming to a stop in a room high up that contained only a desk in front of a panaoramic window. Ozpin took his seat behind the desk and motioned for Nero to take the seat opposite him.

Nero felt uncomfortable, he didn't like being alone with this Ozpin guy.

"I'll be blunt. I know you possess the blood of Sparda and are from another world." Nero narrowed his eyes.

"Explain." Nero had drawn Blue Rose and had aimed it square at Ozpin's head. His devil bringer was glowing brighter and brighter, energy flowing into his gun.

"Sparda came to this world during a period of great upheaval. All of remnant was fighting a losing war against the Grimm, and he appeared one day out of a portal in the sky in the middle of a great battle. He vanquished the swarms of grim effortlessly with one swing of a blade he called Yamato. After he lead many fights against the Grimm. His presence in our world is completely forgotten, as is much of the history in this world." Nero lowered Blue Rose and summoned Yamato in its sheathe. Ozpin's eyes widened at the sword, he had seen illustrations of the legendary blade but now he was looking at the genuine article, or at least assumed he was. "I take it that you inherited the blade from him."

"Something like that. I know his son, I worked with him as a demon hunter. I'm related to Sparda as well, but I don't know how. I went through a series of events a year and a half ago that led me to obtaining this sword and awakening my powers even more. I obtained this arm about two years ago, when I was sixteen."

"I see. The reason I know the things I do is that when Sparda left he left behind some of his belongings, sealed in a tomb. He told the leaders of Remnant that someone from his world would come to Remnant once more, bearing Yamato, and that someone would bring deliverance from the Grimm."

"How do you know this? How do you know I didn't just steal Yamato and I'm actually just a small time demon ammassing power?"

"Because of your tattoos." Nero gave a confused look.

"In order for someone to pass through the hellgate that leads through to this world they must have the blood of Sparda, he ensured us that. He also instructed the leaders that whoever entered this world would have his soul tied to others to anchor his presence. The hellgate is meant for temporary travel, so your long term presence would strain your soul to the point of destruction. The tattoos you bear symbolize who your soul is anchored to, in your case, three of my students."

Nero eyes narrowed. He came here to get away from depending on others, not be forced to habe his existence hinge on someone else. "Who? The girls I helped? Minus the ice queen right?" Ozpin nodded in affirmative. Nero let loose a hollow laugh, his circumstances were just too ironic. "You have no idea how fucked up this is man."

"How exactly is this, 'fucked up'?"

"Because my circumstances for coming here were because of a girl, and Sparda's son. I wanted to get the hell away from all the blood of Sparda bull. I don't even know who I am or what I am. I was raised by a bunch of crackpots that wanted to destroy my world and remake it. Then the reason I had for being, was killed right in front of me." Nero had tears streaming down his face, he was falling apart. All the stress and loneliness and general bullshit he had been putting up with, and for the first time in two years, he cried.

Ozpin could tell that the young man in front of him was incredibly powerful, but possessed an incredibly broken heart. "Nero, how would you like to be a student here?"

Nero wiped his eyes and looked up, suddenly feeling incredibly embarrassed. "You do realize that I'm incredibly unstable and I'm a living conduit for demonic energy." Nero wasn't one for receiving charity, but in this situation he had little choice.

"Nero, this world owes a great debt to Sparda, whether it knows it or not, helping you would be just the bare minimum of what this world can do in return. Tomorrow night I'll take you to the reliquary. Normally students must undergo an initiation to determine their placement, but as all the first year teams are full, and you single handedly slayed a giant nevermore, I believe an exception can be made in your case."

"Who will I be teamed up with? Blake said students operate in a group of four."

"Seeing as your existence in this world is tied to them, I would think it best you were paired with team RWBY, that way you can protect them."

"Why would I need to protect them? They seem to be plenty capable."

"I'll be blunt Nero, they each have circumstances that will undoubtedly cause them to be in the center of conflict with very dangerous individuals. You need to be their ace in the hole, so to speak. A way to prevent those individuals from hurting them."

"I guess I can do that, I mean three of them sort of have my soul anchored to them. It's just them right?"

"For now."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"The nature of the anchors is not completely known, as your world's alchemy is based on the laws of your world. Remnant is different, so the anchors behave differently. It is possible that as you form relationships and strengthen them that you may anchor to others and the already existing anchors will grow. If you let them remain the way they are now, you will lose your soul still. They are weak, so I'm letting you know that it is best that you become close to the girls who you are tied to." Nero scowled at this information, he was trying to be independent again, now he no say in the matter.

"That's just great."

"I'm also going to schedule appointments for you with a friend of mine who can offer psychiatric help to you."

"What? Why would I"

"Because you are unstable, like you said."

Nero nodded. Maybe talking to someone would actually help him. When he lost, when he lost Kyrie, talking to Lady was the only thing that made him feel better, but he didn't want to think about her, not now at least.

"I had a room arranged for you earlier, its small but it should be sufficient for you."

Nero nodded and stood, he was tired, and had a lot to think about. When Ozpin let him into his room, he placed Red Queen against the wall and promptly passed out in the bed.


	3. Chapter 3

Nero stared at the ceiling of his new room. So much was happening to him, he was in a new world, one that Sparda himself had been to and left something behind. If it was devil arms then Nero would be amassing quite the arsenal with the two he had taken from Dante before leaving. Nero didn't think he would even notice as he was too busy boning Lady. The image of walking in on the two in Lady's apartment was forever burned into his mind, and he was still on the verge of throwing up every time the picture came to him.

After Kyrie was killed by Sanctus, Nero was broken. Dante had taken the sixteen year old under his wing, and met Lady through him. She became his rock. When he wasn't slaying demons, he was with Lady. She even let him move in with her to get out of the hell hole that was Dante's shop, he cooked for her, helped her clean, listened to her problems. It took a year before Nero brought up Kyrie, and Lady was supportive. She had this kick ass adittude and took shit from no one, in a lot of ways she was the opposite of Kyrie. But she was always kind to Nero, to a great degree. Nero fell in love with her, he didn't give a shit about the age difference, he was more mature and more supportive then any guy her age she had met and she had explicitly told him that. So when he confessed to her, he knew it would probably ruin everything, but she returned his feelings.

The six months he was with Lady were perfect. They hunted demons together, they lived together, and Nero had many of his firsts taken by her. Lady had turned out to be sexually insatiable, and Nero was more than happy to indulge her. But their relationship was more than sex, at least he had thought it was. She told him all of her worries, hang-ups, and skeletons in her closet, and he did the same. He told her how he was so torn up about not knowing what he was and what he had to do with Sparda. She told him how her father had screwed her up so terribly. They were in love. At least Nero thought they were.

On his eighteenth birthday, the day that their relationship became something they no longer had to hide from others, he had taken a solo job, one that would have taken him two days. He finished it in one, wanting nothing more than to return to his beloved Mary, Lady had told him to call him that as it was her real name, and what he found in their apartment drove him back into a state of unstability and brokenness.

He sat in a chair as they went at it, completely oblivious to his presence. Dante finished first, and promptly climbed off of Nero's only source of stability. Then Lady noticed Nero who had Blue Rose narrowed down at Dante, his devil trigger active. His voice was layered, both with anger and a demonic voice.

"I hope you got what you wanted."

Nero shot Dante in the head after that, then looked at Lady, shook his head, and left. He made a stop at Devil May Cry and took two of Dante's devil arms, then took the first flight to Fortuna he could find. There he went directly to the remnants of Argus' lab, looking for a way out of the world he was in.

He found Argus' notes on hellgates, and his research on using them for more than a portal to and from hell. Nero spent a month studying alchemy in the castle high in the mountains, discovering he possesed a knack for the skill. He kept his hunting skills sharp by fighting the remnants of Argus' experiments, learning the in's and outs of his stolen weapons, melding them into his fighting style. Nero finally completed the hellgate, just in time too. Dante, Lady, and Trish had tracked him down.

He was putting the final touches on the alchemical construction when Dante burst in the large center room of the castle, the two women right behind him. Nero had been expecting them. He fought, fought hard.

Nero thought about what happened that day, and realized that day marked a change in him, he almost became a killer.

"Nero! What the hell are you doing!"

Nero didn't answer him, instead he revved up Red Queen and charged at the older hunter. As his sword met Dante's, Lady took a pot shot at Nero with her signature Rocket launcher. Nero lept away and activated his devil bringer, snatching the missile out of the air, and hurling it back at Lady. She was dead to him, they all were. Trish had never been on his good side and the way she had her nose in Dante's affairs meant that she knew what was happening between Dante and Lady. Dante knew about their relationship and how much Nero was in love. Lady had simply broken him.

Trish had snuck around and charged at him from behind brandishing the sword of Sparda. Nero met her with a swift boot to the face and an exceed charged strike with the flat of his blade. She was sent smashing in to the wall. Lady had holstered Kalina Anne and dropped into a close quarters stance. Nero popped her in the knee with Blue Rose, a fountain of blood erupting and her screaming.

Dante charged at Nero again, he was pissed as Nero had just crossed the line. They were going easy on him thinking he was just upset. They didn't realize the kid was this good or that he was capable of actually hurting them.

"The hell is wrong with you?" Dante received a blue wave of energy as a reply, he was now using Yamato, which meant he had activated Devil trigger, except for some reason there was no trademark blue aura emanating off of him. Nero had figured out how to use Yamato outside of devil trigger, which meamt he had access to his most powerful attacks. They would hurt a little less as there wasn't a spectre mimicking his every move but he was still incredibly dangerous. Dante had been expecting an easy fight, not a curb stomp on his end.

Wave after wave of maximum bet strikes were thrown at Dante, who was barely able to keep up with the speed of them. He was feeling the anger of Nero's blows, the sheer rage that the young man was feeling. He was met with a buster to the face when he slipped up, but before he was sent flying Nero snatched Dante back and unloaded a clip from his gun in his heart.

Nero wasn't done there, he drove Red Queen over and over into Dante's sternum, before throwing him up into the air and stabbing Yamato into his throat. Dante was left a bloody mess, Lady was crippled, and Trish was out cold. Nero was still angry. He pried Rebellion from Dante's cold hands and stabbed it into the center of his hellgate construct, the devil arm starting the alchemical reactions and causing a red pulsing portal to form.

Nero was drawn from his recollections by a knock at the door to his small room. He took a second to wipe the tears that had formed in his eyes thinking about his past and opened the door to reveal a folded set of clothes and a strange device, as well as a letter.

Nero set the device down on his bed with the letter, lookinv over the outfit. He assumed it was the school uniform, and it wasn't terrible to him. The letter turned out to be from Ozpin, and detailed that the device was called a scroll, which seemed similar to the smart phones from his world, and also went over his schedule. He dressed quickly setting his clothes on his bed, deciding to wear his boots instead of the dress shoes that Ozpin had provided. The lettef0r stated that no one would bother him about his arm as there existed many strange things in this world, but if anyone did he could simply tell them it was his semblance.

He pocketed the scroll and went back to the letter. He was suppossed to keep his weapons in the locker that the school provieded but there was no way he was letting his sword or his gun out of his sight. He holstered Blue Rose at his side, and was going to place Red Queen on his back. Then he had an idea. Gripping Red Queen with his Devil Bringer he focused on trying to absorb the sword into his arm. It took a few tries, he assumed due the blade's non-demonic nature, but eventually a blue glow wrapped around Red Queen and the sword was gone.

Nero smiled, he had learned a new trick. He checked the scroll for a map of the school and located his first class. He was feeling incredibly hungry so he decided to make at a stop at the cafeteria.

Nero ignored the looks he got for his arm from the other students, which was on full display as he had his sleeves rolled up on account of his devil bringer's elbow spike. He kept his head high and his stride long, he wasn't going to make concessions for anyone anymore. He entered the cafeteria and instantly felt like every eye was on him, he had no experience with a school setting, having been raised by a militant organization, but this was a school for fighting, and he knew how to fight.

He slipped his hands in his pockets, and waited in line for breakfast. He didn't really pay attention to what he was being served, but he knew it was edible at least. He took a seat at an empty table and ate his food, which was pancakes drenched in syrup and bacon. He ate at a decent pace, wanting to get out of public scrutiny. He had finished and was about to leave the massive room when soemthirng caught his eyes. A group of guys were gathered around a girl with brown hair and... rabbit ears. Nero shrugged off the surprise and instead watched the group with a speculative eye. One guy who had a suit of armor on that had a bird like crest on it, was pulling and jostling the girl's ears, despite her pleas, and the other guys were encouraging him. Nero walked over

Velvety Scarlatina was not having a good morning, as team CDNL was currently harassing her because of her ears. She was trying to get away but every time she pushed Cardin's hands away he just grabbed right back. She was on the verge of tears when suddenly Cardin stopped pulling on her rabbit ears. She looked up and saw a red clawed hand gripping around Cardin's wrist.

Nero glared at the ringleader of the boys, who were now all staring at him along with the rabbit girl. "Let go of her ears, or I will break your wrist."

Cardin was a tough guy, but even he knew when someone was out of his league. The way this kid's eyes seemed to glow and the appearance of his hand made clear he was not joking about breaking his wrist, Cardin promptly let go of Velvet's ears.

"I ever see you pull this kind of shit again, I will break you and your flunkies every bone. Do I make myself clear?" Rather then responding the team followed their leader out of the building. Nero smirked at their response, even in other world's he could scare the bejeezus out of people, he had a lot of practice scaring off guys that were only interested in Lady's tits

Nero looked down at the girl and extended his hand, "I'm Nero, today's my first day, are you okay?"

Velvet blushed and returned the gesture, avoiding his eyes, "Hello, I'm Velvet Scarlatina, you didn't have to do that for me."

"Yes I did. My arm has gotten me a lot of flak, so I know what it's like to be judged for looking different."

"Is it your semblance?" Nero nodded in response, before taking a seat next to her.

"What year are you?"

Velvet blushed more, "I'm a third year. You?"

"First"

"Really? You look older."

"I am. My circumstances are a little messed up."

"How so?"

"Let's just say that I'm from really far away." Velvet took the hint and dropped the subject.

"Have you figured out where your classes are?"

Nero shrugged and pulled out his scroll, which also had his schedule on the device.

"I have history with Professor Oobleck. I looked on the map of the school but I'm not entirely sure where I'm headed."

Velvet smiled. "I have that class as well. Come on, I'll show you the way."

Nero nodded and followed the rabbit girl.

They were walking in silence, till Velvet spoke up. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, how long have you had..." Velvet trailed off in embarrassment, she was worried at the chance of losing a new friend.

"My arm? It's fine, I know it's strange and semblances don't usually manifest physically in this manner, but it's part of me and I'm not embarrassed by it anymore, I've had it for about two years, it awakened when I was sixteen."

Velvet felt part of her grow to admire this Nero even more, he was like a faunus, and he didn't care what anyone thought of his unusual features. "What can it do exactly? I'm sorry if that's prying."

"You're not prying, your just asking questions that anyone would ask. It's called Devil Bringer, it allows me summon a spectral arm that mimics my movements, and a bunch of other things, it allows me to store certain items, and it can absorb certain objects to make it stronger. It's really picky though."

Velvet giggled at that, he almost made it sound like it was alive seperate from him. "Thats quite the interesting arm then."

Nero looked down at his devil bringer and smiled, he was actually happy to have the thing now that he didn't have to worry about being burned at the stake for it.

The two kept chatting as they walked when Nero realized that the boys from earlier had been following them for a while. Nero had Velvet stop when they reached an open area around a statue. "Looks like your friends want to play Velvet." Nero drew Red Queen from his arm and rested the blade across his back, smirking as the four boys surrounded him and Velvet.

Velvet was worried, team CDNL, despite being huge jerks, were capable combatants, and Nero couldn't be that good, could he? The way he was acting though, this was a joke to him almost.

"You should've known better then to stick your nose in team CDNL's business freak!"

"How would I know that when this is my first day?"

"Whatever!" With that the four of them charged Nero, who simply wrapped his arm around Velvet's waist and jumped, sailing over them. As he landed he set a blushing Velvet down and revved up his sword, before twirling himself into the fray. He blocked a set of daggers first, throwing back the wielder with a swift kick to the chest. Then came a halberd, which he simply sidestepped, and headbutted the kid holding it, knocking him out. Cardin came at him with his mace, and managed to get a good swing in, or so he thought. Nero had caught the weapon just beneath its head with his bare hand, before snapping the mace in two.

"You might want a new mace."

Cardin growled and threw his mace handle down, then charged at Nero who simply shook his head, the average person was way too easy to rile up compared to demons. Nero slipped past the enraged boy, tripping him with an outstretched foot. Cardin was sent sprawled to the ground, knocked out by his own inertia.

Velvet was stunned, Nero had made a complete fool of all of one of the the strongest first year teams, and he didn't even move more than a few feet from his original location.

Nero turned to Velvet after once more putting away Red Queen. "Well that takes care of that. Let's get to class."

Elsewhere, Ruby Rose was sitting at her seat waiting for class to start, thinking about the boy who had dropped into her life. For some reason he made her feel... wierd. She had never put much thought into boys, but Nero was the only thing that had been on her mind for the past forty eight hours. She felt a connection to him, and she had to know why.

She was drawn from her contemplation when her sister poked her in her side, getting her attention. "Whatcha thinking about sis?"

Ruby blushed, "N-n-nothing." Yang leered at her with a knowing grin.

"You were thinking about Nero weren't you?"

Ruby's blush simply intensified.

"It's alright Ruby, you're not the only one. I mean, I cant get him out of my head either."

"Ozpin said he was a student now, so who do you think he'll be teamed up with?"

Blake spoke up from the opposite side of Ruby, "I hope it's us, he would be quite the asset to have in combat and I'm sure we all would love to get to know him better."

Weiss scoffed from her place next to Blake, "Speak for yourselves, if he's placed with us I'll, I'll, I'll... I don't know what I'll do, but it won't be pleasant for anyone."

Yang rolled her eyes, while Ruby and Blake frowned, "Weiss, you need to relax. He seems like a great guy and he really saved our buts."

"He came from a portal in the sky and was spouting nonsense about demons Yang, he's a buffoon."

"Who's a buffoon?" The four were shaken from their conversation by the sudden appearence of Nero.

"Hey Nero! Do you have this class?" Ruby instantly perked up at seeing him.

"Yep, and I have news for you all."

Blake's bow twitched as she looked up from her book. "And what would that be."

Yang jumped on as well, "Do tell."

"I'm officially the newest member of team RWBY."

"What!?" Weiss had slammed her hands on the table in front of her and stood up, her face a mix of shock and disgust. The other girls had smiles and Ruby and Yang had let out a small cheer.

Nero looked at her, let out a sigh, and seemed like he was about to say something before he instead decided to walk further up the risers that served as the classroom's seats and sat behind Ruby.

Ruby turned to Nero with an apologetic expression just as the professor started class.


End file.
